Love Always Lasts
by MeantForDraco
Summary: I love James and Lily fics. Had to write one myself. I'm writing the summary when I don't know exactly how the story is going to turn out... So bear with me. Just wait and see. Constructive criticism is cool. So... R&R! And enjoy!
1. The Awkward Moment

"Oy! Evans!"

Lily sighed with frustration as she heard the familiar greeting. She would never get a moments peace with Potter around…

"Why hello my Lily-flower," James said in his most suave voice.

"Potter."

"Awww come on Evans, don't be like that! I brought you something. You could at least be grateful…"

Lily smiled inwardly. As much as she insisted she detested James, he always bought her the most amazing gifts. It was a plus to have a rich boy madly in love with you. Lily slowed down and turned to James.

James, taken aback by her lack of refusal, looked at her in shock. But his gaze softened as he drank in her appearance. His eyes traced her arms, leading to her hands, which were placed firmly on her slender hips. Her hair shined more than ever, dancing in the sun. He saw as her tongue moistened her lips. Oh her lips… How he wanted to feel them against his own… Saving the best for last, James looked deep into Lily's eyes. Those striking green eyes, showing kindness and fierceness at the same time. They were spectacular.

Lily waved a hand in from of James's face, and startled him out of his trance.

"Oh shoot…" James muttered. "Ummm, here's your present." And he shuffled off to catch up with his friends.

"Odd…" a confused Lily whispered to herself. She tucked the small box into her pocket, to open when she was alone. She didn't like people seeing the joy he gave her. She was a little disappointed that he didn't make a scene as usual. Though she would never admit to it, she absolutely adored the attention. Deep down, she knew she loved James. She even loved his oversized ego, and his messy hair, and is rich hazel eyes.

Over the summer, Lily had thought about her constant hard-to-get act. Even though she had fallen for James in her second year, she couldn't admit to it. She had disliked him, yes, but she never could she hate him. So she put on a show, pretending to hate him. But James had never fallen for it. For some reason she thought he could see through her games. But this year would be different. She had decided to cease her act and finally let James have her. But it was already her 6th year at Hogwarts. Would they have enough time together? They had only 2 more years left… James was probably like all other guys. Not interested in marriage and wanted to spend his whole life "getting some" from random girls.

*****

"I'm gonna marry her Padfoot."

"Come off it Prongs, she doesn't want that. She probably wants some mathematician old cook that'll give her 80 babies."

James frowned at Sirius. "No, she's different. I can tell. She's the one I wanna be with."

"Oh come on. You're 16! You don't know this stuff yet. Besides, she's gonna take some work, and you've been working on her for 5 years!"

"This year is different. I can feel it."

Sirius looked at James with a doubtful look.

"I'm serious! The way she looked at me today…" he inhaled a sigh. "She didn't even glare at me. And she didn't even ignore me!"

"Bloody hell, James. You've got it bad!"

*****


	2. The Gift

As Lily bustled to get ready on her first day of classes, she realized that she hadn't opened James's present. As she rummaged in her trunk to find the box, she didn't notice Alice standing behind her. Alice had been her friend since their first day at Hogwarts, but Lily still hadn't told her about her actual feelings for James.

Alice watched Lily curiously, trying to figure out why Lily was digging through her trunk, even though she was dressed and presentable for the day. But Alice soon realized what was happening when Lily pulled out a small box from her coat pocket.

Lily held her breath as she started opening the small box. She pulled out another box, which she was sure was a jewelry box. But she never expected diamonds! A beautiful heart-shaped necklace laid in the velvet box, glistening in the sunlight. A set of matching diamond earrings were beside it. Lily could hardly contain her excitement! James had never given her something so beautiful and tasteful. This was her chance! She would wear the necklace, and show James that she loved it and accepted it. He would automatically think that she wanted him too! She had it all figured out…

*****

"Prongs… You'd better take a look at what's coming down the stairs… Bloody hell!"

James slowly turned his head to face the stairs that opened up to the Great Hall. He had never expected what he saw. Lily looked gorgeous. The jeans she wore fit her perfectly, and her top was stunning. It was a bright green; accenting her eyes and making them shine. But what caught James's attention was the piece of jewelry around her neck. She had worn the necklace! James stared as she took her place next to Molly at the Gryffindor table. Her gleaming teeth flashed as she smiled at him. She had smiled at him!

*****

Lily waltzed to the Gryffindor table and sat next to Molly, who was sitting straight across from Sirius. Lily sat down and flashed a smile at the boy sitting across from her. James seemed amazed at Lily's sudden show of kindness toward him. Lily smiled inwardly. Her plan was working perfectly, and she could tell by the look on James's face. There was nothing that could mess this up.

*****

James had no idea what was going on. All of the sudden, Lily had shown attraction toward him, and he was ecstatic! He had to make a move soon, before she changed her mind.

"Hey Lils. There's a Hogsmeade trip coming up next week. First one of the year. Do you think you might be able to meet me in the common room, and we could walk there together?" James held his breath as he watched Lily contemplate his proposal.

He could hardly believe her response.

*****

Lily could hardly suppress her smile as she pretended to debate on how she would answer James. She knew what she wanted to say, there was no doubt in that, but she liked to watch James worry over another denial. She decided that now was the time to act. She wanted James so badly…

"Sure," Lily could hardly believe the words had come out of her mouth. Apparently, neither could James.

James looked dumbfounded. "You… I mean… You said… Yes?"

Lily smiled at him affectionately. "You heard right. I agreed to go out on a date with you."

"Well! I'll, I'll see you there then!" James stood up from the table. "Oh wow…" he murmured to himself.

Each group of friends looked at Lily with shock splattered all over their faces. All except for Alice. She gave Lily a knowing smile. Lily had the feeling that her secret had not been keep to herself completely…

*****

The next week passed with blissful happiness, and the new couple was hardly seen apart. But one question was heard all throughout Hogwarts.

"Would it last?"


	3. The Fight

Lily hated it when James had to leave Hogwarts for something. His parents were always taking him home for all sorts of things. But this time was the worst.

James had gone without saying goodbye. They had gotten in a fight the night before he had left, and he didn't even leave a letter of apology, or something to tell Lily that he had gone. She had tossed and turned all night long, and had resolved to apologize to him the next morning. But James had left early, before Hogwarts had started waking up. She was lost, with no way to communicate to her friends on what she was going through. They had only had one big fight through their entire 6th year, and only a couple small ones, which they resolved quite quickly. But this one was different.

******

James crumbled up another piece of parchment and threw it on the floor. It was no use. Nothing he could say now would console Lily. She had yelled, louder than their fight in their 6th year. He couldn't believe it had been over something as silly as him assuming she would go with him to Hogsmeade the night before their N.E.W.T.'s were to begin. Why shouldn't she?! She had studied for weeks on end and needed a break. But nooooo..! She had to sit in her dormitory and stare into her books, trying to memorize every little bit of information that was held in them.  
This was going to be a special trip too... Their last Hogsmeade trip would be a perfect time to propose to her. He wanted nothing more than to stay with her forever. He had it all planned out... It would have been so romantic!

He couldn't believe that he had let himself yell at her. The very thought of it had horrified him in the past, and he had sworn he would never do it. But, he yelled at her as he had never yelled before. He couldn't imagine what she was going through. He could see the frightened face she wore. It had engraved itself into his mind, and there was nothing he could do to make it leave. And, to make matters worse, his parents had called him home again, and he wasn't going to see Lily at all, until the last few days of their years at Hogwarts, after all their testing was done. 


	4. The Question

"Oh no..." Lily heard Molly whisper.

"What's up?" Lily inquired of her friend.

"Umm... Nothing! Nothing at all!"

Lily looked at her friend skeptically. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah! Positive!" Molly cast a frightened look behind Lily.

Lily turned around to see what Molly was looking at "Wha-" Molly grabbed her friend's shoulders and turned her back around

"Nothing! It's really nothing at all! No need to worry! Let's just go this way!" Molly pulled Lily in the away from whatever she was scared about, and started walking in the opposite direction. "He's the last thing we need right now," Molly said under her breath.

"What was that?" Lily asked. Her friend was acting very oddly... Maybe the fact that they were leaving Hogwarts forever in 2 days was starting to hit her. Or maybe she was experiencing the after-math of exams... Everyone handled them differently...

"What? I didn't say anything!" Molly started walking faster.

"Lily!" As she heard her name being called, Lily started to turn around.

"HEY! I have an idea! Let's go to the common room!" Molly said quite loudly.

"But... I heard my name!" Lily protested.

"No you didnt'! It was a figment of your imagination! Let's go!" But before Molly could drag Lily up to the common room, she whipped around to see who was calling her name. Now she knew why Molly was so keen on leaving...

There he stood. Helpless. He was staring at her, with a defeated look on his face. Time froze. It was just the two of him. He was walking toward her.  
She couldn't even move her feet to walk away. She had said so many brutal things to him. She had to at least apologize...

********

There she stood. She had never looked so beautiful. He had to do this. It was now or never. He started walking toward her. He saw no one but her. He had expected her to turn away. To walk away. But she didn't. She stood still, looking at him. A million thoughts ran through his head as he made his way to her. It was now or never. Apologize, and then just do it. He knew she's still love him. She had to...

"Lily I-" But he was cut short.

"Don't say anything. I owe you an apology. I'm truly sorry for what I said. I didn't mean any of it. I mean, I-" James put a finger on her lips, silencing her.

"No, Lily. I'm sorry. Am I forgiven?" Hope swelled up inside of him as he awaited her answer.

Lily looked at James. She had never seen him look so gorgeous. His eyes hypnotized her. "Of course," Lily replied.

A huge weight had left James at that moment; a weight he had been carrying since their fight. This was it. He had to do it now. No better time than this... "Lily?" James looked at her as he pulled a box from his robes.

Lily's eyes widened at the sight of the box. "Yeah?" She couldn't breath...

James got down on his knee, in front of the entire school. "Will you marry me?" Had he said it? Should he say it again just to make sure? But the look on Lily's face showed that he didn't need to. She had heard him.

"James, I..." She looked surprised.

James didn't know what to do. She looked like she didn't want to... He just had to walk away before he embarassed himself. He pocketed the ring again, stood up, and turned to walk away.

"James! James wait!" Lily saw him turn around and acted on impulse. She reached up for his face and stood on her toes. "Of course I will." She had not expected James to act with such enthusiasm. He picked her up at the waist and kissed her as he had never kissed her before. There were so many emotions packed into the kiss, that not even the couple couple could name them all. By this time, all of the Great Hall was staring at them. But they didn't care. They had each other, and nothing could separate them. 


End file.
